Uppside down
by madsenberg
Summary: This is my first story here! its about an Abhorsen having to fight some Dead and probably also a necro. The first two chaps are very short. UPDATE: STOPPED WRITING. I dont have the will. But i will continue with smaller stories soon...i think.
1. New task to do

A day in Life

This is my first story here! I have updated this chapter since the original publishing to make it fit with the plot of the upcoming chapter 3. Please review thanks.

"Mogget, I have just received a fast-flying message about an upraise of the Dead in Uppside, it and very important, so I will have to goo right now", said Rafael, the 34th Abhorsen, to Mogget in his cat form, while he was waving with a piece of paper spelled with Charter marks, "the Mage who sent this thinks that they are under control of a necromancer. Uh, I hate necro´s, messing with Free Magic which they in the end cannot control, my reason for being what I am, Abhorsen, forced to put the Dead back where they belong"... for a moment he was lost in his own little world, "so, you´ll stay home and take care of the house, right? Thanks". Abhorsen strapped on his bandolier with the seven bells, the Charter marks on them shining for a second, took his sword, also shining with Charter marks, and went out through the door, leaving Mogget back in the house with an annoyed look on his face. "They always think they´re so smart", said Mogget, walking back in the rooms of the House, the little Saraneth on his collar ringing a melody.

Rafael placed himself in the blue Paperwing which stood outside, it´s eye blinking smartly at him. He whistled the Charter marks for wind and flight, and the Paperwing lifted itself from the ground. Rafael really enjoyed the rough wind and the warm sunlight, while sitting in the Paperwing. The wind came from east, so he came to see the village Uppside sooner than expected. When he landed a little outside the village, he was a bit nervous for the upcoming fight, but when he laid a hand on the bells across his chest, he felt better. He walked into the village, with Saraneth in his hand. The large bell was a symbol of authority, and it was his favourite of the bells. There was peaceful and quiet, and in the middle of the village he saw that the Charter Stone was still whole. He tried to reach into the endless flow of the Charter, and felt warmth and light around him. It cannot be that bad, if the Charter still is strong here, Rafael said to himself. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.


	2. Dead and Living

Uppside down

_This is the second chapter, i hope youll like it! Its still my first story, so I wont expect very much praise, but it would be good also with advice - again. I dont own anything of Garth Nix´s universe. Maybe Rafael (stupid name, but it was the only -el name i could think of that time, though. forgive me for that) ENJOY!_

Rafael ran out to the open field behind the village, carefully holding Saraneth, so that it could not ring by accident. A terrible sight met him.

A little group of villagers, armed with shovels and other tools, were standing in a circle with six children in the middle. All were crying or filled with panic. Around them were dozens and dozens of Dead Hands, trying to get the fresh and sweet blood of the Living. The villagers´ shovels had no effect at all. A few Charter Mages were shooting golden fire against the Dead, and the fire burned its way into the dead bodies, but there was always another one to take the place of the fallen ones. The eyes of both the Living and Dead were focused on something out left. Rafael looked over there and he was filled with panic and anger, when he saw a woman trying to outrun the Dead and get into the circle with the villagers. It had been her scream he had heard. But one of the Dead was close to her, and the Charter fire did not hit it, because the Mages were too panicked to take proper aim. The Dead Hand grabbed her skirt and she fell onto the ground.

Rafael, who had been petrified until this very moment, meaning nobody had noticed him, broke out and held Saraneth up, and rang it. The powerful sound filled the air, combined with his powerful will, and he could feel the Dead struggle against the bindings, and heard the Living gasp of the sight of the Abhorsen. But he was too late. The woman´s neck had been torn open by the Dead and blood was floating out of the wound. She was dead now, Rafael felt her spirit get caught by the river of Death, and taken all the way to the Ninth Gate, quickly. It had been her time, then.

But that only made the Dead fight even harder against the bonds of Saraneth. The blood on the ground meant Life, and they desperately needed it to survive without slowly going back to Death. Rafael heard screams and panic from the villagers, who thought that the Dead would now hunt them. But the Dead Hands were standing still, bound by Saraneth to Abhorsen´s will. Rafael put Saraneth back into the bandolier and took Kibeth instead. The Dead were now on the edge of breaking Saraneths magic, when they felt the presence of the Walker and the final death. Rafael held Kibeth in a tight grisp, so it couldn´t ring. The Walker could sometimes try to ring by itself, and that never had good consequenses. But this time it went on well. Rafael rung the bell while moving it in the shape of the number eight. It had a playful melody that caught the dead spirits and brought them back through the Ninth Gate, and beyond. Except one. All the other bodies had fallen to the ground, now only empty shells. But the last one stood still, waiting for the call of the bells, but then realized that it had been spared. Not for long, Rafael thought. He took Saraneth from the bandolier again, ringing it together with Kibeth, an action that required extreme focus. The tunes of the two bells sounded, commanding the last Dead Hand to stay in the First Precinct of Death. To wait for Abhorsen.

Rafael drew his sword, reached into the warm sunshine of the Charter, and pulled out the four master marks needed to make a diamond of protection around him. The marks passed down his sword and lay shining on the ground. Golden lines ran between the four marks and made an impenetrable barrier. Then he made himself ready for the next challenge. He concentrated hard, and suddenly he was standing in a dull world with grey light, and he felt water around his feet, trying to pull him down and further away. Rafael was standing in a river. The First Precinct of Death. And there, stood the spirit he had commanded there, tall and alone. Waiting.

_Hi! this chapter turned out to get longer than I expected, but still... there will probably be two or even three more :) again please review. thanks_


	3. A view to kill

A view to kill

_Ive been on vacation for ´bout a week, so I havent really had the time to write anymore by that time... but now im back in DK. I forgot to tell what happened to the villagers, so it will come here, it will actually just be chapter 2, seen from "farmer´s view". The title is inspired from James Bond. haha._

_By the way, the pieces of paper "featured" in this chapter are travelling very very fast, okay? Like, theyre 5 min about reaching the receivers, right? fine. UPDATE: TO EVERYONE READING THIS: I had to make some changes in chappie 1 and 2, to make it fit with the plot of this chapter. I hope its okay. _

The villagers had been busy doing their normal day things; sowing their crop and bake bread, when a scream had sounded from one of the houses around. They had all gone there, trying to find the source of the scream. They saw a little girl scream and cry, pointing forward. And had quickly been running away again. What they saw, was a large wave of Dead Hands, coming in their direction, longing for Life. They had run out to the field behind, grabbing shovels and sickels, standing in front of their houses, in their way. But this sudden invasion was only one of many strange things, the villagers of Uppside had yet to see.

Even though the Charter Stone in the middle of the village was whole, the Mages of the village were not sure that it could protect them from such a mass of hungry Dead. Another reason that they had run out to the field was, that in that way, they could better see oncoming enemies, instead of staying in the village, where one suddenly could sneak up on you from behind a house and kill you. What the villagers hadnt noticed, was a woman in her house, hiding under her bed, too afraid of running out to the field. The womans decision would soon take her life.

The villagers had seen Dead before, and had learned to fear them. Together, they had gathered in a circle, protecting their crying children. The four Charter Mages from the village (who had achieved a Charter Mark, but actually only knew the most simple spells) had begun shooting golden fire from their hands. Even those simple spells tired them. One of the Mages were protected by the others, busy reaching into the Charter, finding marks for delivering, protection, ultra speed, flight and memory. These marks were put on a piece of paper, where the message on it said: TO ABHORSEN UPPSIDE DEAD HANDS HELP NOW FAST. The letters on it had been written in a hurry, and was a little unreadable.

The Mage folded the paper to a small square, threw it up in the air, where it zoomed away in the direction of the Ratterlin Delta and Abhorsens House. All this happened in a minute or so, and 20 seconds after the launching of the paper, the piece had vanished in the horizon, flying to its receiver, Abhorsen. The villagers watched it fly away, and they desperately hoped that Abhorsen were not on duty today, because if he was, he would not receive the message before tonight, when he came home. And in that time, there was no village called Uppside anymore, only a dead field.

The wave of Dead Hands came closer and closer, surrounding the villagers, who fought with bravery against the Dead to protect the children, crying in the middle of the ring of villagers. Their shovels and sickels hit and cut into the Dead bodies when they came too close, but that only pushed them back, and soon after, the Dead began to attack again, if they were not burned by Charter fire, shot by a Mage from behind. It kept going on like this for what felt like ages for the villagers, but only was a couple of minutes.

Neither the Dead or the Living could win the fight at this time, but the Living soon began to feel tiredness and the hope for Abhorsens coming had dwindled to nothing. Hopelessly keeping up the fight, a scream had pierced the air. The Living and the Dead had both turned around to find the source of the scream. The Dead was now walking the other way, but the Living were terrified, when they saw the woman who had not run to the field with them, sprint out from the village, trying to get into the relative protective circle of villagers. She did not reach her goal.

The Mages had tried to fire at the Dead Hands closest to her, but they could not aim properly, because if the fire hit the woman, she would burn to death. The Hand closest to her had grabbed her skirt, and she fell to the ground. The Dead approached her, hungering for the Life in front of them. One of the Dead had torn her neck open, and her blood was spilling on the ground. But at the same time, a powerful sound filled the air with a deep and commanding tune. The Dead were petrified, unable to move. The villagers turned around, and they all gasped. The Mage who had sent the message, let out a sigh of relief.

About ten meters away, stood Abhorsen Rafael with a bell in his hand, letting the powerful tune send echoes through the air. His bandolier and sword made him look terrifying and heroic at the same time. The village Uppside were saved. The villagers could only stand, looking admiringly at Abhorsen, while he put the large bell back in the bandolier, and took a smaller bell.

Even though the bell didnt look very scary, the Dead was struggling to move further, and their fear could almost be sensed. Abhorsen swung the bell in an odd shape of eight, and it let out a happy tune, that made the villagers want to dance, but the Dead spirits were screaming in fear, as they left the bodies and disappeared into the Ninth Gate, leaving the once moving bodies lying on the ground. But oddly, one Hand stood back, still unable to move, and the villagers were confused about it. Wasn´t Abhorsen supposed to send _all_ of the Dead back to Death?

Without a word, Abhorsen took the same bell that had made the Dead unable to move, from the bandolier, still holding the smaller bell. He closed his eyes in focus, ringing the two bells at the same time. Their melodies sounded, and now the last Dead body fell to the ground. Abhorsen put the two bells back, took his sword, and the Mages felt the Charter Magic, as Abhorsen drew from the Charter the four marks to make a protective diamond around himself. The Mages knew this spell, but they did not know how to do it. The diamond shone with golden power, the lines of light running between the marks.

The villagers knew instantly that this was not an everyday sight, and they kept watching Abhorsen, though none of them had the courage to walk closer to him and say thanks. What if he was doing some very powerful Charter Magic, that would blow them all to pieces, if he was disturbed? But they had got out of their panic, and their circle had dissolved, and the villagers had been walking back to their houses, a little confused about Abhorsens strange behaviour, until a child had said: "He´s freezing!"

And they had all turned around to see ice creep up Abhorsens body, until it reached his nose, and a little icicle dropped down from it. The child who had first seen the ice on Abhorsen, had been running towards him, eagerly trying to touch the cold ice on Abhorsens body and face. "NO!", one of the Mages roared, and the child stopped running. "If you in any possible way penetrate the lines of the Marks, your life will vanish". When the kid had looked at him confused, the Mage had added: "If you touch Abhorsen, you will die". The kid looked scared, and ran to his mother, who laid her arms around him, sending the Mage an evil look.

"Now, dont panic", said the same Mage,"Abhorsen is in Death right now, thats the reason of the ice. He will not be turned into one of these", he shudded, "creatures we fought before. He will return soon, and everything will be okay. You can go back to the village, and continue your duties. I know you have been touched by this episode, and there is nothing wrong with that. Come and talk to me, if something is wrong. You may go now".

The villagers slowly walked back to the village, holding hands with their families. They grieved because of the dead woman, though she had not got any family in the village, and she had been living on her own. It was not the most terrible loss, there were others, more valuable people in the village. The Mages.

Out on the field, the Mage in control, the one who held the speech before, reached into the Charter, finding the marks for death, fire, and peace. He let them flow over the dead woman, still lying on the field, and a white flame burned on her chest, soon spreading over her body. A little bunch of ash, wasthe only thing left of her. I this way, she would not return as a Dead Hand. The Mage mourned for a while, then he also walked back to the village. Leaving Abhorsen on the field, covered by ice from head to toe, protected, and alone.

_So, what do you think? (review, please) The longest chapter until now! AND... someone has reviewed, finally ! (Fishy Biscuits, you know who, i hope the chap is long enough :)) The next chapter will be about Abhorsen in Death. But i simply dont WANT to write anymore now, but lets say, two weeks, max. till next chap comes up? Deal. ;) _


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